Silting of Haiho River Prevents Navigation: Previous 'i ae ried ima issues Remain To Efforts Wasted By Fioce Tae So much has been said and written} about the much-maligned Hatho that.
seems almost like flogging a dead horse to revert to the subject again. The state of the Haiho to-day is really worse than it was before the Haiho 'Palliative' scheme for the temporary improvement of the river sanctioned by the Nanking Government and the $4,000,000 Yoon Aoated, secured by a five per cent. surtax'on the customs.
It is now several years since the Haiho. Improvement Commission started on ite work of improving the Haiho, It started of quite well, a gate or lock was built ' at near Tientsin, the object of which was to drain off the muddy and silt-laden waters of the Yungtingho which was the cause of all the trot ble to the Haiho. In due course a settling basin was built to the south of the Peitsang lock into which all this mud and silt from the Yungtingho was to flow. But then a very big obstacle arose on the part of we farmers who objected to having their land flooded and crops destroyed. They approached the Chihli Provialal government authorities on who matter, with the result that expe: t Wiee"" was obtained as to what! elreumsuffer.
'A kind of international meeting was then held in Tientsin, includ ing both foreigners and Chinese. ind among the - foreigners present were Mr. H. F, Barnes, chief engineer of the Public Works department fof the British Municipal Counci, Mr, Leach, of the Peking-Mukden railway administration, Mr. J, Hardel chief engineer of the Hatho Conser~ vane Commission, Mr. Yang Pao-Ung, chief engineer and advisor to the "Haiho Improvement Commission, 'Mr. S. F. Kao, a prominent technical engineer nnd conservancy expert attached to the Haiho Improvement Commission, and several other, the result of this meeting, it' was unanimously decided that in order to avoid any loss to the farmers, their land and property should be bought outright at a cost of $1,500,000 for funds in unaccountable veason the land was never purchased.
Farmers
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.